How Engagement Affects Employee Health
Research from a recent Gallup survey indicates that American employees who are emotionally disengaged from their job are about as unlikely as the unemployed to be in excellent health.
Only 20% of “actively disengaged” employees rate their overall health as “excellent” like the 22% of the unemployed. Yet this amount is significantly fewer to the 31% of engaged workers who view their overall health as excellent.
In fact 1 out of 5 unemployed respondents and actively disengaged workers report that poor health kept them from their usual activities 3 or more days out of the past month. However, engaged workers are less than half as likely to report having 3 or more unhealthy days in the past month.
Research has shown that engaged employees average 27% less physical absenteeism. This saves organizations an average of 86.5 million days per year in productivity according to a 2001 survey from the Gallup Organization.
Engagement is not only good for the employee’s health, but it significantly impacts a firm’s bottom line through saved productivity.
References:
Wagner, R., & Harter, J. K. (2006). 12: The great elements of managing. Washington, DC: The Gallup Organization.
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